A Season of Blessings
Dear Friends of Sea Hope
New Fuel Tank for Auxiliary Generator
Our auxiliary diesel generator is mounted on the deck, exposing it to the harsh salt air environment of the Caribbean Sea. The fuel tank was made of regular carbon steel, and even though I preserved it to the best of my ability, the bottom of the tank rusted very badly. It was to the point we had to stop using it. After consulting with several people, we settled on a different design for a replacement tank. We purchased marine grade aluminum panels and angle. A local welder made us a tank slightly longer than our last tank. We constructed a frame of heavy aluminum angle to hold the diesel generator and put the tank inside the frame. Matt Brunner, Frank Olafson, and Russell Scherlie came to Ponce and stayed with us for a few days to remove the old tank and install the new one. An organization that supports SEA HOPE paid for the material and the fabrication of the tank, and a new supporting church paid for the crane services used to remove the old tank and install the new one. To God be the glory.
Relief Mission to Haiti
Kevin Falde (Parakaleo International) worked with a relief organization from Ohio to procure a 53 foot container of rice meals and medical supplies for several mountain churches in southern Haiti. SEA HOPE was asked to carry the load. This was the first container we have handled since arriving in Ponce. Although the delivery went smoothly, there were some lessons learned. Another supporter purchased 10 pallets of beans to go with the rice meals. When all was said and done, we had over 60,000 pounds of cargo to carry to Haiti. It was our largest load ever. Over 16 churches and 4 different ministries benefited. We had a large crew that included 6 first time members. Again, to God be the glory.
Port Diesel Generator Repair
Our port diesel generator was online during the auxiliary tank repair, and it stopped producing power. After troubleshooting, the most likely cause was determined to be a failure of the rotating rectifier assembly. The details of how God lead us to get the machine restored to service are too numerous to put here, but please look at our FaceBook page MY Sea Hope to see how He blessed us. It is just a miraculous story of His goodness and grace.
Cuban Pastors Visit SEA HOPE
We were blessed during this period to host a couple of Cuban pastors for a tour of Sea Hope. Listening to their stories really gave us a desire to be able to go to Cuba to help local churches there. The needs are real, but God has to lead us. Please pray if it be His will, that God will open this door.
Ernesto Storm Evasion in PR
Hurricane season is here. This past week we had to do our first storm evasion since arriving in Puerto Rico three years ago as Ernesto passed. The storm went east of Puerto Rico, so we did not have as strong of a storm here as was predicted. We were out of port for about 48 hours. Although it was a short trip, we learned a lot of lessons for any future evasions we need to do. Please pray that God will keep the storms away from Sea Hope.
VBS at Grace Baptist, Les Cayes, Haiti
Grace Baptist was the recipient of beans and rice on our last trip to Haiti. They were able to serve over 1500 meals during their VBS. During the week they had 60 salvation decisions and 4 others experienced salvation assurances !
